Everyone.net service no longer free?

[King Of Email]

I have recently been to lots of Everyone.net email accounts I have accounts at, checked the sign up utility, and found no more option for free 1GB accounts, only 2 and 5GB accounts for $24.95 and $49.95 per year respectively. Either that or the new sign ups feature has been disabled. I've also noticed Everyone.net inbox emails seeking user feedback about what features it would take for users to consider paying for email. The future status of existing free accounts is unknown, but if discontinued, would be the equivalent of the asteroid dinosaur extinction event. Such a loss would send shock waves through the entire internet and email world, utterly dwarfing the loss of all other free email services to date combined since Everyone.net manages literally hundreds of millions of email accounts. Besides this, I've also noticed quite a few transitions of Everyone.net accounts to Google apps. I would hate to see Everyone.net gone from the internet as it is still the rock upon which most free email applications are based and internet email commerce resides. If Everyone.net goes to pay for service only, I would only be able to afford one or at most two accounts out of the dozens that I use and depend on, and with dwindling incomes and the existence of free alternatives, I'm not sure if such a business model will ultimately succeed. At this point disabling new free sign ups after over a decade of unlimited free service may be a smart survival move on their behalf, but I surely don't want Everyone.net to disappear like Mailspace and it's thousands of domains did in the dotcom bust of 2000. I'm hoping an Everyone.net rep will come here and inform us of the situation.

[mf1941]

Thanks KOEM, as usual you are both thoughtful & provocative!

Question: Can you list some Everyone.net services that transitioned to Googlemail that offer a free service?

I've avoided Gmail mainly as the privacy concerns bothered me but find many of the features useful for the sake of consolidating though I can't get a username that is bearable there...

[King Of Email]

Originally Posted by mf1941

Thanks KOEM, as usual you are both thoughtful & provocative!

Question: Can you list some Everyone.net services that transitioned to Googlemail that offer a free service?

I've avoided Gmail mainly as the privacy concerns bothered me but find many of the features useful for the sake of consolidating though I can't get a username that is bearable there...

mf1941, all the ones I know of required an existing, active Everyone.net account prior to the Google apps transitions. This required users to transfer account info during a specific time window or be shut out of the transition process. Usually the service sponsor would alert users to the transition and require a response. Because of an oversight on the behalf of one service host, I didn't get a transition and now my old account is in limbo. For Everyone.net accounts that have already made the jump to Gmail, new sign ups are not possible, unless I suppose one contacts the sponsor and requests to be allowed to register an account. There were some Google Gmail apps that offered new accounts directly without any transitioning and required a 24-72 hour application process and confirmation by reply. I had a few of those but they went bust not long after. I haven't seen any more like this lately either. I expect that many web hosts that use Everyone.net email will transition old accounts to either Gmail or something else if Everyone.net shuts down.

Like you, I am hesitant to jump onto the Gmail bandwagon whole hog, as I am also quite concerned about Google's email privacy and data sharing policies. I would prefer another alternative, and hopefully another web enterprise will arise to fill that need as Gmail arose to fill the need for larger storage and expanded email utilities. With Google's proposed GDrive, ("cloud", ie: web based computing to replace existing Windows and Mac operating systems) , the plan to extend Google apps to other email domains might already be in the works. If web based public computing operating systems become the dominant form of internet commerce and computer access over traditional fixed hardware based personal computing, net privacy might be a thing of the past. Of course I very much hope not.

[Killer]

Strange. Thanks for alerting about this KOE. I have no idea and hopefully this is temporary. It would defeat the purpose for owners of domains that provide email for their users.

[lgnki]

I always thought a day like this might come. Can anyone report if existing free accounts are still working?

Here is an example of the sign up page KOE is referring to:

http://email.37.com/

[King Of Email]

Ignki, my existing Everyone.net accounts still seem to be working, at least for now. However, every one that I have been to no longer accepts new free sign ups, only pay for service plans. One exception I have found is www.Computermail.net , an Everyone.net service recently mentioned on these forums which still displays a free registration page (for now). I have an account at this mailbox also. The free service is now made possible by irritating page redirection when inbox utilities are selected and in my case, an amount of spam. Control over the sign up process might lie with the purchaser of the service, especially if it is Everyone.net group mail vs. public.

Even a while back, I noticed some Everyone.net services' new sign up link, when clicked, did nothing. Those might be accounts simply closed to new sign ups period, pay or not. Everyone.net is unique among every email provider I have ever seen in having web mail accounts still extant even though the sponsoring web service that provided the free email service no longer exists. These are usually accessible only through previous url bookmarks or archive.org url searches. Even though these particular accounts are dead for all intents and purposes, even they display the pay for service option when selecting new sign ups!

Obviously this is a system wide default for Everyone.net as they contemplate business model options. Apparently Everyone.net's requesting users to volunteer to receive a limited amount of spam to sponsor the free service didn't take with enough people, nor did the beta mail inbox interface which added little and removed the unique theme, color, and layout characteristics of the old inbox view. My prediction is that Everyone.net will begin to sell off many of its domains which are considerable which may or may not be redeveloped. The rest will probably be auctioned off and some held in registration limbo for future use. I only hope some older websites will keep the free mail service as I have relied on them for daily email needs.

My advice to Everyone.net would be to not go down the road Mailspace and many others went down, that is blowing off all their domains or selling them in bulk for chump change in an environment of panic. The internet and email commerce went down in 2000 during the dotcom bust but rebounded afterwards. Also adopting the business model of other free mail providers that offered free services for years and then demanded pay for continuing services, turned off far more people than it attracted when subscription rates for the service were higher than the market would bear especially with abundant free alternatives. Everyone.net asks for $24.95 for 2GB and $49.95 for 5GB of its fully featured services.

To be able to compete with free Gmail, MSN, Yahoo, etc their service would have to be either something spectacular as in extremely customizable and completely different from what I have seen so far a la Everyone.net beta mail, or be considerably less expensive because most users of their services are average nominal users, not serious email crunchers. In short, Everyone.net should grab market share by charging a dollar a month for 25GB of storage and abandon the outdated two tiered service option. If only paying customers get to use Everyone.net anymore, then they must offer something better than anyone else currently does in terms of price and service. That would be something like a fully featured, complete suite of email and web utilities in which a user would become dependent and want to pay to keep.

[lgnki]

KOE:

In the example you provide, it seems like the form collects the information server side (ie...not on everyone.net's servers) and then submits it. The possibility you mention of the domain administrator being on a group mail plan is one explanation, but another alternative is that everyone.net has only "soft" disabled free sign up, and that this custom form is able to directly submit the free user application to the everyone.net API. Either way, this is clearly an unauthorized work around and an exception rather than the rule.

[Killer]

Originally Posted by King Of Email

My prediction is that Everyone.net will begin to sell off many of its domains which are considerable which may or may not be redeveloped. The rest will probably be auctioned off and some held in registration limbo for future use. I only hope some older websites will keep the free mail service as I have relied on them for daily email needs.

Those domains belongs to individuals who owns them Everyone.net owns the mails in their server. So if the domain expired, there goes the service for that domain.

[King Of Email]

Originally Posted by Killer

Those domains belongs to individuals who owns them Everyone.net owns the mails in their server. So if the domain expired, there goes the service for that domain.

I'm not sure Killer. I still use some Everyone.net free email accounts for which the domain name, if typed into the address bar, cannot be found, nor does a web search of it render any results and if they do, they point to a web page no longer active. It would seem that once Everyone.net does up an email service for someone, it remains even if the domain sponsor is long gone, unless of course Everyone.net or their corporate holding partners own it. To my knowledge, only Everyone.net email has this very strange feature. These "dead" accounts can still send email, but not receive any, unless the account sent to is another Everyone.net email account, active or sometimes not. I've never understood why this is so. However, even the dead accounts still display current banner ads and, until recently, even still allowed new registrations. A few defunct accounts have truly been removed by the owners of the domain and cannot be accessed via archive searches, etc. Even then, usually only the front page of the login is archived, but everything else is otherwise totally inaccessible. Even weirder is when a defunct email account on an existing and active site, once hosted by Everyone.net, that has moved on to other mail providers or simply removed free email altogether; is (or at least was) still accessible by back door operations from bookmarked or archived links. This is so even if the current website uses the exact same domain extension for its current email. But, however, as I said, such service from a dead account only works as a sender and a very limited receiver. Case in point is 50.com, where I once had a very nice, short account consisting of a single letter before it went bust and Everyone.net banned double and single letter user names. If I could get this account back, I'd be willing to pay for it. Everyone.net email service is really quite unique and extraordinary for these reasons and many others. The accounts I had that transitioned to Google apps, I rarely use because I just don't trust Google on privacy matters which is why an account that goes to a Gmail clone is a loss, not a gain.

[Killer]

Could you give an example? Unless Everyone.net choose to buy the dead domains over when the owner choose not to renew them.

[King Of Email]

Killer, I registered with this address 8 years ago and had stored the login in a web page bookmark. The current url for www.cyberspace.com points to one of those stock default search pages where once an active website existed. I can still use Cyberspace Mail through a back door, but as I said, it only has limited functionality. This is what it looks like:

http://cyberspacemail.mail.everyone....56685157951251

The domain is parked and locked, but thanks to Everyone.net, the old email service is still partially functional. However, if one follows the sign up/upgrade link, it goes to a pay for service option plan. Once selected, it allows registration. I haven't taken it to this point, but if I did and paid, would it work given the status of the domain? I wouldn't think so.

[Killer]

Originally Posted by King Of Email

Killer, I registered with this address 8 years ago and had stored the login in a web page bookmark. The current url for www.cyberspace.com points to one of those stock default search pages where once an active website existed. I can still use Cyberspace Mail through a back door, but as I said, it only has limited functionality. This is what it looks like:

http://cyberspacemail.mail.everyone....56685157951251

The domain is parked and locked, but thanks to Everyone.net, the old email service is still partially functional. However, if one follows the sign up/upgrade link, it goes to a pay for service option plan. Once selected, it allows registration. I haven't taken it to this point, but if I did and paid, would it work given the status of the domain? I wouldn't think so.

You mean mails sent to user@cyberspace.com will reached your inbox? Unless everyone.net had an agreement with the owner of this domain to grant access of their MX server. Since I do not have an account I feel that this domain is considered dead and that backdoor link was to let affected users to retrieve their mails left in the server.

As for the signup link, perhaps anyone who signs up will end up with the everyone.net domain name example - user@cyberspacemail.mail.everyone.net. This was during the early days when anyone without a domain can apply for a mail hosting service free. I doubt that domain is working for email.

[Killer]

Originally Posted by King Of Email

One exception I have found is www.Computermail.net , an Everyone.net service recently mentioned on these forums which still displays a free registration page (for now). I have an account at this mailbox also. The free service is now made possible by irritating page redirection when inbox utilities are selected and in my case, an amount of spam. Control over the sign up process might lie with the purchaser of the service, especially if it is Everyone.net group mail vs. public.

As for the sign up page on Computermail, how do you confirm that is the free sign up page? Did you tried to sign up an account? I checked on other everyone.net domains, clicking on the premium sign up turns up the same type of pages.

[King Of Email]

Killer, Computermail.net, when the sign up link is selected, brings up the old standard Everyone.net free sign up page. A few weeks ago Computermail.net's representative was on these forums discussing the free email service and the family friendly types of ads and emails the site permitted and allowed. Since no option for a pay for service currently exists for this service, I assume it is still free and welcome to registrants who agree not to send spam, offensive, or sexually oriented material. Computermail's rep may chime in here if he or she wishes. Computermail.net is an Everyone.net business mail account and is 10GB in size.

[Killer]

Originally Posted by King Of Email

Killer, Computermail.net, when the sign up link is selected, brings up the old standard Everyone.net free sign up page. A few weeks ago Computermail.net's representative was on these forums discussing the free email service and the family friendly types of ads and emails the site permitted and allowed. Since no option for a pay for service currently exists for this service, I assume it is still free and welcome to registrants who agree not to send spam, offensive, or sexually oriented material. Computermail's rep may chime in here if he or she wishes. Computermail.net is an Everyone.net business mail account and is 10GB in size.

On the sign up page, there isn't any mention of any free sign up. From any other everyone.net sign up, click on the premium sign up it would be the same page that pops up. So unless you are speaking up for Computermail.net, I do not see any reason to believe that sign up link is a free sign up page.